Steadily Increasing Mail Count

Hi All,

My daughter complained to me about her Windows 98, FF 1.5, Thunderbird 1.0.7 system. It appears that the numbers associated with the received e-mails keep increasing without any new mail being received. I don't have any answers. Below is her mail to me.

"Dad,
I will try to explain again about my inbox. As a new message comes in
and is not read yet it stays bold *INBOX (1).* If I let my system stay
idle for a period of time that number increases.
This morning I looked at the computer and it said I had *INBOX (222)
*and down at the bottom of the computer screen above the clock it said
there were 1313 total messages in our inbox. Actually there are only 42
total messages and 5 are currently unread. While I was writing to you
the numbers increased to *INBOX (227)* and total messages 1355. We have
been trying to keep the number down in the inbox and file the messages
accordingly. Let me know if you get any insight to what might be going
on with our system. I appreciate you looking into this for me. "

Other than installing a newer Thunderbird on my next visit (out of state) to her computer, I'm at a loss. I hesitate to suggest that she attempt a new installation. Has anyone experienced a similar conditiion, and if so, what might be a solution?

 

derfsch,

Some routine maintenance may be in order. Ask your daughter to do the following:

With Thunderbird closed:
Delete the Cache folder located in:
C:\Windows\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.profile_name

In the same location, also delete the history.dat, and XUL.mfl files

Next: in the Mail Account Folder, have her delete ALL MSF Files.

Thunderbird will rebuild the above folder and files on restart.

 

Also, if mail is deleted, the Trash should be emptied, and very important., the Inbox compacted (right click on the Inbox, and Compact folder).

 

Ramona, Westside,

Finally heard from my daughter about the increasing mail count. As I understand from our telephone conversation, she could not find the Cache folder, history.dat file or the XUL.MFL file in the same location. She did find the XUL file and the MSL files in the Mail Folder but could not find the Cache or history. Although we have different versions, in my system (FF 1.5 and TB 1.5) I never could find a TB Cache folder. I did find my XUL file at C:\Document and Settings\User\Local Settings\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\*.slt. To me this location (Local Settings) appears different from that which was in older versions of TB and FF.

If you have any more words of wisdom, I will pass them on. Thank you for your interest.

 

derfsch,

I was on auto pilot when I said to delete the Cache Folder, and history.dat file. No Cache Folder, or history.dat file in Thunderbird, only in Firefox. So sorry, and apologies to your daughter! I'm sure that only added to her confusion.

The XUL.mfl file is in the salted folder:
C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles

Did your daughter compact folders, as well as delete the MSF files?

 

Ramona,

Is this true for a Windows98SE and FireFox 1.5 system?

As for as I know, she has not made any changes so far. I'll keep you informed.

 

derfsch,

Yes, it would be the same for Windows 98SE and Firefox 1.5. The XUL.mfl file is located here:
C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.profilename

 

Ramona

According to the latest conversation with my daughter, she has finished all the suggested fixes and the increasing mail situation is still there and has not improved. A final question: What is required to avoid this condition,
a new profile,
removal of the version TB 1.0.7,
an upgrade to TB version 1.5.0.1?

Thank you for your continued support.

 

In my post#3, I mentioned compacting folders. I don't see any reply to that.
The message number will keep increating if the mail is deleted, but the Inbox is not compacted (deleted mail remains in the background).
The other issue is that Trash may not be emptied.
The other issue, unrelated to the Trash and compacting is the possibility that the Inbox.msf file may be corrupted. That is the header file. It must be dleted with the TB program closed, from Windows Explorer.
If compacting the folders, and deleting the Inbox.msf file fail to give results, I doubt that anything else will work.
A new profile could be in order, but I think that we have some major misunderstands. A later version will not make any difference.

 

derfsch,

If compacting and deleting MSF files did nothing, then a new Profile is in order, as mentioned by Westside. I wouldn't advise upgrading until the problem is solved. Then it would be a good idea to move to Version 1.5.

 

I am in total agreement. A lot of people think that reinstalling, or upgrade will fix problem, which 99.9% of the time are located in the Profile (which is not removed by uninstalling).

 

Ramona and Westside

Since I will be visiting my daughter this weekend, I planned to use a new profile. Westside my post number eight stated "she has finished all the suggested fixes" which includes the compacting. Once again thank you both for the helpful suggestions. Your patience is appreciated. I'll report back when I return home and hopefully we can put this situation to rest.

 

derfsch,

Good that you will be able to eyeball her system and the Thunderbird setup. I will keep my fingers crossed for both of you!

 

Ramona and Westside,

All is Well. You two were right. After a step by step following your recomendations, the problem has gone away. Not only has the increasing numbers stopped, but there is a dramatic improvement in the loading speed of Thunderbird. We are not sure which part solved the problem, but certainly the removal of the MSF files and Compacting the folders contributed greatly.

My daughter and I thank you for your support.

 

derfsch,

I'm so glad to hear that you were able to get your daughter up and running! I feel fairly certain that Compacting those folders did the trick! Never hurts tho to get rid of those MSF files when a problems pops up.

Good going Dad!